Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Did the K-man do it, or did the K-man do it?

One of the running jokes of the Yankees ’08 season was bringing up Kei Igawa’s name any time there was a need for a starting pitcher. That happened a lot, and after a one-shot deal in Detroit on May 9, Igawa was never the guy they called up to start.

Joe Girardi’s last assignment to Igawa was to record the final three outs in a June 27 game at Shea Stadium, with the Yankees leading 9-0. Igawa got the job done (cue Cosmo Kramer: “Did the K-man do it, or did the K-man do it?”) but gave up two hard singles in the process before inducing Luis Castillo to hit into a game-ending double play.

He was not heard from again on the big league level. There’s no clearer sign than how far Igawa’s star has fallen than the fact he is no longer on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, a Triple-A filler part with $12 million still owed to him through the 2011 season.

So it seems that in the much-rumored trade that would plant Mike Cameron in center field at Yankee Stadium, while shipping Melky Cabrera to the Milwaukee Brewers, the holdup may be Igawa. The New York Post reported that the Brewers want to pick up as little of his salary as possible, as Milwaukee is dropping Cameron’s $10 million deal for 2009 as a salary dump.

The Post reported that the Brewers asked for Phil Coke, Jose Veras and Mark Melancon before Igawa’s name surfaced, but the Yankees quickly said no. That brings the Brewers to Milwaukee, a touted import from Japan who may need this chance more than anyone to revive his stalled career.

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15 Comments

Don’t like the possible Cameron move at all. I rather give Milky and Gardner another shot. Cameron’s bat scares me with his stike out ratio,plus he’s 36. Lets get Tex and go from there. His bat between Jeter and A Rod would be a solid move for our offense and a gold glover at 1st. The Red Socks just made him an offer (according to espn) and are considering trades to accommodate Tex at 1st. I hate to see this happen when we just lost Abreu’s and Giambi’s RBI’s /Hr’s production and Abreu’s OBP. A switch hitting power like Tex in the middle of this lineup would be fine with me. Don’t want Manny (also 36) and the drama. Sign TEX!!!

the yankee fanatic…
i don’t agree with trading for Cameron…
not even to get rid of Kei Igawa…
if Melky is to be traded he should be held until the trade deadline this season or until the yankees see another top of the rotation pitcher or big bat they need to trade for…
Melky would then come in handy as a cheap good defensive player with up side who could be put in a package to get a big deal done…
i think they should have held J. Nunez and J Marguis for a deal like that…
maybe who traded for swisher plus Yuan Miranda and Melky
could have brought in Zack Grienke…
and the Yanks lost Jason Jones and Zack Kroenke…
and they let Chris Britton become a (Non Tendered)free agent…i don’t know but these players had could minor league numbers and they’re all young and Britton was good as a reliever in 06 and 07…
i wonder if what they traded for swisher plus what they lost from their roster…could not have been packaged to get a Gil Meche or Zack Grienke…
these are cheaper less injury prone alternatives to Burnett…
which then makes Teixeira more of a reasonable target…
maybe there is are details about why these deals can’t be made…but it seems the Yankees don’t think outside the box…they just seem to throw money around to the wrong people at the wrong time…

The only way Manny will be decent for anybody is if he signs for a one year contract because lets be honest he’s possibly the greatest right handed hitter to pick up a bat, but he was run out of Boston because he’s a scumbag. If anybody gives him a deal longer than a year he’ll do something to wear out his welcome in whatever clubhouse he’s in. But a one year deal won’t happen because it’s all about the money, he’s a Boras client, and what if he gets injured? The Yankees do not need somebody that will fake injuries, dog it to first, chose not to field on any given day even if he can mash to the tune of .350 30+HR 100+RBI.

Cameron will be 36 years old in January; is a free-agent at the end of the 2009 season; is a “low average”, “high strikeout” player; who is not an improvement in centerfield; and, adds, absolutely “nothing” to the Yankees team !!! … Mike Cameron, would deliver far less production than Bobby Abreu, who “is” the player the Yankees should re-sign, and bring back to the Bronx !!! … Abreu is a much better hitter and player than Cameron, and will be a much more valuable player in the Yankees lineup … Also, the Yankees should sign, Mark Teixeira, so, that, the middle of the Yankees lineup will be: (3) Abreu; (4) A-Rod; (5) Teixeira !!! … The Yankees are a much more powerful team with Tex at first, not Swisher; Abreu in right; Nady/Damon in left; and, Damon/Gardner/Swisher in center, not Cameron/Gardner !!! … And, one final thought: Hopefully, Hank Steinbrenner is not serious about bringing Manny to the Bronx !!! … I would never want Manny to play for the Yankees !!! … Let Manny bring his “act” any place else, but “not” to the Yankees … “MANNY BEING MANNY” belongs nowhere near the “new” Yankee Stadium !!! … Go Yankees, #27 in 2009 !!! … Jimmy [27NYY]

Every card that Cashman played have been an ace this F/A session. Cameron will be good for the defense. Baseball is 85% pitching and pitching includes defense. Speed is very important to a good team, speed go along with hitting and defense. I believe one card is left to play, and that would be timely hitting, Manny Ramierz is that card. He would fit perfect behind A-Rod. Every team in baseball has some sort of drama, sooner or later. But a strong manager controls, not stop alot of drama. Winning is the key. I would love to see A-Rod and ManRam back to back. I am a little long of tooth, but I remember when the fans and the media hated Ted Williams, he once spit on the fans at Boston. Baseball players are the same as everyone else there are Coo Coo’s everywhere. But Adam Dunn can fit too.

I hope we trade for Cameron and sign Manny too. I’ll be done with the team then with no need to try to score tix for opening season in the new stadium. I don’t care if they win every WS for the next 5 years with those players. I hate Manny and everything he stands for. Signing another over the hill cheater in Cameron over a + defender with youth who will only get better is another stupid move, on the heels of signing an oft-injured 32 year old base basically on what he did last year….. With the exception of CC (and maybe Swisher) I dislike the direction this team is going.

10 to 11mil really should be the max for Pettite. If we pay him any more, it would be because of what he has done for us, not what he will do. Success in New York is a factor, but Pettite simply isn’t the pitcher he once was, and our rotation is a strength now. He would be nice as a no 4 starter, pushing Joba down to no.5 and a lighter workload while allowing Hughes to be used as a backup for the unfortunately likely situation that one of our pitchers goes down. Still, he is not a must sign like last year.

If we decide against Teix, I agree that Manny shouldn’t be signed. For years I’ve hated hearing ‘Manny being Manny’, I never want to hear a Yankee fan having to defend him like that.

If we do pass on Teix, I’d much rather a player like Taveras, who is better than Gardner’s peak projection. He gives us a leadoff hitter who can steal well over 60 bases. And he had a bad hitting year(30+ points below career average) but still hit better than Cameron. Plus he is 27.

This way, we get to keep Melky who can fight Taveras for the CF spot and if Melky loses, he goes back to being 4th outfielder where he excels. Matsui is our DH until proven otherwise, leaving Damon in left. If we elect not to sign Abreu, we can play Nady in right. Or we can package Nady, Gardner, and a pitching prospect or two for an upgrade somewhere.

The way I see it, Cashman has so many options here. And being the glass half full guy I am, I’d like to believe he has considered all this and many more moves that I, being a 19 year old college sophmore and not a MLB GM, haven’t even thought off.

We would be approximately $20M under but then tack on the possible $10-16M for Pettitte and there’s little wiggle room for anything that comes up. Granted the $200M is an arbitrary number that the front office decided on, but I am still holding out hope for a Tex signing, not a Manny signing I hate Manny and think he’s a dog. I also think we may be doing what we did when we signed Damon and say we’re going in house with CF and then drive the price down and get someone else. I’m hoping by making that clear to the Brewers they’ll take on more of Igawa’s contract and if not Melky and Gardner aren’t bad options.

Fair enough partyboy98. I’ll agree that trading Melky and Igawa for Cameron and maybe a hitting prospect wouldn’t be horrible as long as we don’t have to eat too big a chunk of Igawa’s deal. Cameron is a Gold Glove type who can hit 30 homers and steal 20 bases.

Still, the best we can hope from Cameron is for him to be as good as last season. At his age, it seems highly likely he will be worse. For me, one year of that is not worth giving up Melky, who is still 24, and should bounce back from 08. Again, not a horrible trade, but surely Cashman can do better.

As for Teix, I still hold out hope. I haven’t done the math, but I think even paying him 20mil a year would allow us to cut something like 20mil from last year, with more cuts coming soon(Damon, Matsui) and a new stadium to boot. Maybe front office wants to shave more than that, maybe all that 200mil talk was to drive down prices, I don’t know.

Anyway, there are free agent options to shore up our offense for cheaper. Still would like to see Teix and A Rod go back to back sometime next season though. What a corner infield that would be.

I completely understand Jackson’s lack of MLB experience I am pointing out that the acquisition isn’t horrible, and when you look at Melky’s performance it was nothing more than disappointing at the plate. Igawa is completely worthless as he proved to the Yankees he can’t be anything more than a AAA player that is owed $12MM. I highly doubt the Yankees will go after any big name FA after acquiring CC and AJ because their goal is to keep the budget under $200MM for the season. Doesn’t mean they wont make another move but players like Tex, Manny, Penny, etc. are probably out of the question, and even Sheets has been rumored to be more likely to go elsewhere (the Rangers keep popping up) even if we don’t sign Pettitte.

Okay. To be fair, Cameron’s numbers would look more like 30+ homers, 20+ steals in a full season. And he is a plus defender. But remember why he got suspended in the first place. He’s a cheat. And a sub .250 batting average, with a OBP that may not win a batting title doesn’t appeal to me.

Andrew Jackson hasn’t proven anything in the majors, so lets keep that in mind before we deal away a 24 year old switch hitting CF for a 36 year old bridge to him. On minor league performance, Hughes, IPK and Igawa would have pitched us to the World Series last year.

On the plus side, we are considering Teix now. Apparently we aren’t going all out yet, but anyone else excited?

Best case, we get a star 1B and middle order bat, worse case we drive up the price for Boston. In between, we have driving Teix out of Red Sox price range and to LA or preferably Washington. I call this a win-win-win situation

To be able to dump a worthless salary black hole like Kei Igawa would be a great opportunity. While I don’t like losing Melky, I think he still can blossom to a quality outfielder the trade isn’t as horrible as some are making it out to be. It is a short term option that can prove to be both a stopgap for AJax to develop further in AAA and to provide an adjustment aid for our new ace CC who when was traded to the Brewers at the deadline became quick friends with Cameron. Cameron was the Mets CF so he has experience in NYC He hit 25 HR and had 17 SB and had a .331 OBP, so not horrible stats but he does strike out too much 142 in 444 ABs. So while Cameron may not be a perfect situation but it is a positive one and could make others around him namely CC better.

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